Marines Are In A Tough Situation

I feel bad for the U.S. Marine in Fallujah who shot the Iraqi insurgent.

Whether that shooting was justified or not, I suppose, will be determined by some military governing body.

But I can't help but feel bad for that U.S. Marine.

First of all, I can't imagine the strain of urban combat. Anybody who has watched any of the footage from Fallujah couldn't help but be stunned by the sheer level of adrenaline that must be flowing through the veins of those troops.

This particular Marine, the day before, saw one of his brothers in arms die and several others suffer wounds when a booby-trapped insurgent's body exploded.

The Marine himself, according to news reports, was wounded that same day before when a "wounded" insurgent played dead and then fired a weapon at him.

Now, I understand how graphic and horrible that NBC video looked. I understand how inhuman, cold and calculated the shooting of the insurgent seemed. I understand how callous the one Marine's comment - "He's dead now" - sounded.

But honestly, walk a mile in that Marine's combat boots before you make any judgments.

OK, I know that's impossible. Who among us, spare the few combat veterans around here, would be able to conjure up even the most remote clue of how that Marine must have felt standing there over that wounded insurgent?

The room was occupied by several insurgents as well as several Marines.

Then the insurgent moved.

You can hear the level of agitation in the shooter's voice when he reports to his unit that one of them is "faking that he's dead."

Then there's the fateful gunshot.

I've been reading a lot about the incident. I have seen plenty written on both sides.

Some people say the Marine's actions show that we are no better than the insurgents.

I strongly disagree with that sentiment.

After all, it is the insurgents themselves that refuse to play by the "rules" of war.

They play dead and then fire weapons. They hide out in mosques. They use civilians as human shields. They booby-trap dead bodies. They use suicide attacks.

Placed in a situation like that, how is a Marine supposed to make a determination?

I think when the Marine in question - surrounded by several other Marines from his unit - saw movement by the insurgent, he felt threatened.

As always, there are people in the world who know a lot more about these things than I, so I will accede to them.

International legal experts suggest the Marine may have acted in self-defense because of a danger that a wounded combatant might try to blow up or employ a hidden weapon.

Charles Heyman is a British infantry veteran and senior defense analyst with Jane's Consultancy Group in London. He defended the Marine in an Associated Press interview. He said Marines are taught that the enemy "is at his most dangerous when he is severely injured."

Heyman also told AP there is a danger that a wounded enemy may try to detonate a hidden firearm or a grenade, and if the man made the slightest move "in my estimation they would be justified in shooting him."

Even a Red Cross official interviewed by AP took a neutral view of the incident.

"It's clearly recognized that people in combat situations are under enormous strain," international Red Cross spokesman Florian Westphal said in Geneva. "Obviously, we were not on the spot so we cannot judge the precise circumstances of what was being shown here."

Westphal said the Geneva Conventions are clear: Protection of wounded combatants once they are out of action is an absolute requirement, but conceded that the status of the wounded man was unclear.

Frankly, I know that all the legal wrangling in the world will never satisfy critics of the war and the United States.

But I think court-martialing this Marine bodes poorly for our military forces in Iraq.

Certainly, we don't want our troops summarily executing wounded, unarmed prisoners of war.

But do we really want Marines who are hesitant, uncertain or afraid to pull the trigger in questionable situations like these?

There will be those - in this country and elsewhere - who will want to extract a pound of flesh from that Marine.

They will want to make an example of him.

But I am not one of those people. They say "war is hell" for a reason.

I hope the military exonerates this Marine - and gives him the Purple Heart he deserves.